China EU Photo: VCG

The EU remained the second-largest trade partner of China in the first 11 months of this year, with China's imports from the bloc up by 5 percent, official data showed on Thursday. Experts said that the data shows both sides still maintain close economic and trade ties, and the Chinese market is increasingly important for the EU in a volatile international environment.

Rather than promote "de-risking" under US pressure, Brussels should objectively view China-EU relations, and strengthen win-win cooperation with China in a wide range of sectors such as the green economy and digital economy for its own benefit, they said.

According to data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GAC), bilateral trade dropped 2.2 percent year-on-year to 5.03 trillion yuan ($707 billion) in the first 11 months this year. China's trade surplus with the EU stood at 1.41 trillion yuan, down 16.7 percent year-on-year.

While exports to the EU fell 5.8 percent year-on-year to 3.22 trillion yuan, China's imports from the bloc grew by 5 percent to 1.81 trillion yuan, according to the GAC.

"The data shows that China and the EU have maintained close and frequent trade exchanges despite the complex international environment. Meanwhile, the Chinese market is increasingly important for the EU," Zhang Jian, a vice president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Dismissing EU officials'   remarks on the so-called trade imbalance between the two economies, Zhang said China isn't deliberately seeking a trade surplus.

 "One of the important factors contributing to China's trade surplus with the EU is the bloc's export controls on high-tech products to China. In addition, the global competitiveness of European products has declined due to rising costs and energy prices," he said.

China's increased imports of European products underscore China's firm commitment to opening-up, and China's development creates opportunities for Europe. Economic and trade cooperation continues to serve as a ballast stone for China-US relations, Yang Chengyu, an associate research fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Yang said bilateral economic and trade cooperation has enjoyed a stable development trend, with high-level dialogues being carried out in sectors such as economic issues and trade, the green economy and the digital economy.

On Thursday, the 24th China-EU Summit was held in Beijing, the first in-person summit in four years. During the summit, the Chinese side called for a partnership of China and the EU for mutually beneficial cooperation.

China also called for strengthening two-way political trust, building strategic consensus, cementing the bonds of shared interest, steering clear of various kinds of interference, stepping up dialogue and cooperation for the good of our people, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the European side attaches great importance to relations with China. The EU has no intention to decouple from China, and instead hopes to maintain long-term stable, predictable and sustained relations with China, and inject new momentum to China-EU relations through the meeting, according to a statement on the Chinese government's website.

"The EU should meet China halfway and make China policies from the perspective of its own interests rather than catering to the US' strategic goals," Zhang said, noting that win-win cooperation with China benefits the EU.

There is of great potential for both sides to conduct cooperation in sectors including the green economy and the digital economy, experts said. 

"China's advantages in electric vehicles, photovoltaics and new energy will contribute to the EU's green energy transition while China's relatively mature digital economy market is also what the EU needs," Yang said.

Experts said the EU should further strengthen strategic autonomy and engagement with China for stable bilateral relations.

In October, the EU made a groundless move to launch an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese new-energy vehicles. He Yadong, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular press briefing on Thursday that the EU's probe does not conform to the interests of both sides' auto industries and it will have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations.

The nature of China-EU economic and trade relations is complementary and win-win. It is hoped that the EU side will abandon protectionist acts and support trade and investment cooperation between the Chinese and European auto industries so as to boost win-win development and build a sound environment for joint efforts to deal with climate change and green transition, He said.